Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area

Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (CISFTA) is a free trade area between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Five CISFTA participants, all except Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Moldova are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, comprising a single economic market.

The Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Zone Agreement, proposed since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, was signed on 18 October 2011 by Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova and Armenia.<ref>CIS leaders sign free trade deal, 2011-10-18</ref> The agreement replaced existing bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements between the countries, although the ex-Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan & Georgia have not signed the agreement. Initially, the treaty was only ratified by Ukraine,<ref>Ukraine and Canada completed a free trade agreement, July 15, 2015, 2011-07-15</ref> Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia and Kazakhstan,<ref>Russia’s Duma ratifies Eurasian Economic Union, odessatalk.com. Retrieved 23 December 2014.</ref><ref>CIS Free Trade Agreement comes into force; Baker & McKenzi, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 18, 2012, 2011-10-18</ref> however in December 2013 Uzbekistan signed and then ratified the treaty.<ref>Usbekistan: Protokoll über Beitritt zur GUS-Freihandelszone in Kraft getreten, de.ria.ru 28th December 2013.</ref> Kyrgyzstan has ratified the treaty with effect from 12 January 2014,<ref>Uzbekistan joins CIS free trade zone, azernews.az. Retrieved 23 December 2014.</ref> while Tajikistan was reported in 2014 to be close to completing the ratification process.<ref>CIS FTA effective for Kyrgyzstan from 12 January 2014, bilaterals.org. Retrieved on 23 December 2014.</ref>

European Union–Ukraine trade agreement controversy

From 1 January 2016, Ukraine and the European Union started provisionally applying a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union held consultations on 22 December 2015 to discuss the implications of the agreement concerning the possible duty-free transit of EU goods into the EEU via Ukraine. The states agreed to implement a provisional scheme later in 2016 that would impose customs checks on goods entering the EEU from Ukraine; and long term, to establish a common information system to control all imports into the EEU's customs area.<ref>Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan work out provisional scheme to control transit via Ukraine, Belarus News. Retrieved 4 January 2016.</ref> Nonetheless, Russia signed a decree in mid-December 2015 suspending its CIS Free Trade Agreement with respect to Ukraine from 1 January 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In late December, the Ukrainian Government responded by passing trade restrictions on Russia, with effect from 2 January 2016.<ref>Spotlight: EU-Ukraine trade deal triggers new round of economic clashes, news.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 4 January 2016.</ref> Agreements between Ukraine and other EEU states within the free trade area remain in effect.

Signature and ratification

Template:Supranational PostSoviet Bodies An overview of signatures and ratifications is shown below:

State	Signature	Entry into Force	Comment
Armenia	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Eurasian Economic Union member
Belarus	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Eurasian Economic Union member
Kazakhstan	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Eurasian Economic Union member
Kyrgyzstan	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Eurasian Economic Union member
Moldova	Template:Dts	Template:Dts
Russia	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Eurasian Economic Union member
Tajikistan	Template:Dts
Ukraine	Template:Dts	Template:Dts
Uzbekistan	Template:Dts	Template:Dts

See also

• Commonwealth of Independent States
• Economic integration
• Eurasian Union
• Free trade areas in Europe
• Post-Soviet states
• Trade bloc

External links

• Text of agreement